As commencement approaches, graduating seniors will flood the job market as they get ready for life after school.
With that, University job-finding resource centers are gearing up for the spring rush of seniors and other undergraduates looking to make themselves more appealing to potential employers.
“Everyone panics that summer is near and they don’t have an internship,” said Miriam Hailechristos, the student liaison and adviser for the Internship Development and Referral Program.
Hailechristos met Thursday with random students seeking internship referrals that helps pair them with the perfect employer. The Office of Special Learning Opportunities will sponsor a workshop on effective job search strategies Monday.
These two events build on a career information fair that took place Wednesday in Coffman Union.
At the conference, employers from a variety of fields consistently cited internships as proven ways to land jobs after graduation. Representatives from the Hennepin County Medical Center, 3M Co., and Carmichael Lynch were among 28 panelists at the second annual Career Information Day.
At any given point during the six-hour conference, about 100 students roamed from panel to panel to learn about different career choices and job search strategies. The Office of Special Learning sponsored the event.
Packets distributed at the conference described internships students can pursue to give them a leg up on other job-seekers. Some of the listings were for the businesses that had representatives in attendance.
Terry Middendorf, a counselor in the Carlson School of Management and other staff conducted sum critiques throughout the day.
Middendorf said a sum is often an applicant’s only shot at employment and can never be looked at too many times.
“You can’t lose a job by having me look at it,” Middendorf said. “But when you head out to 3M you want it to be the best it can be.”
The conference consisted of three sessions, each lasting two hours. Sets of four panelists from the same fields lectured students on professional business trends for one hour and answered questions in the second hour of each session.
However, the question and answer format during the second hour left senior French major Ben Lundeen disheartened.
“It’s cool to see what people are doing, but I like to talk to people one on one,” Lundeen said.
Senior international relations major Tom Martell, on the other hand, said the conference was informative. Martell said he plans to use tips about internships, informational interviews and computer proficiency when he goes job hunting.
For business representatives such as Katie Cooney, vice president for a consulting company called Leadersource, the turnout was promising.
“I see the future here,” she said. “I see so much talent and people who are eager to get going. It’s a wonderful thing to do.”